Garland

"Garland" redirects here. For information about other subjects with the name "Garland", see Garland (disambiguation).

"I, Garland, will knock you all down!!"

—Garland

Garland is the main villain of Final Fantasy and the first boss fought. He formerly served as a knight under Cornelia's monarchy. Early in the game, Garland kidnapped Princess Sarah, and the Warriors of Light set out to Chaos Shrine to battle Garland. Near the end of the game, the heroes travel two thousand years into the past to prevent Garland from gaining power. In that time, Garland absorbed the Four Fiends' elemental powers and transformed himself into Chaos, the final boss of the game.

Character design

Garland's in-game sprite depicts him in a set of gray armor with a horned helm and blue cloak. His eyes glow red. The Dawn of Souls artwork replaces the blue cloak with a violet one with gold trim, and the helm has two smaller spikes on the top. His battle model also has this appearance.

Garland was redesigned for Dissidia Final Fantasy with Tetsuya Nomura stating it was more like designing a new character because he could only refer to in-game sprites. Garland wears a more elaborate suit of armor with blue jeweled sections on the shoulders, wrists and groin. The horns on the helm extend out farther than they did in Final Fantasy, and his cloak is blue, held by a gold clasp.

History

Final Fantasy

See also: Chaos

Garland was the best knight of the kingdom of Cornelia who gained respect through his power and skill. He became corrupted by power and abducted Princess Sarah, fleeing to the Chaos Shrine. He demanded the King of Cornelia hand control of the kingdom to him in exchange for his daughter's life. The Warriors of Light travel to the Shrine where they defeat Garland and rescue Sarah. Afterwards, the warriors travel the world to fight the Four Fiends of Chaos that had drained the Crystals of their power. The power of the Crystals the Fiends had drained was funneled into a Dark Crystal in the Chaos Shrine, opening a portal to the past.

With the Crystals restored, the Warriors of Light are told the Fiends were sent from two thousand years in the past, and their master is in that time. Using the Dark Crystal the Warriors travel to the past and defeat the Fiends again, and find Garland alive. Garland tells the Warriors of Light that the power of the Four Fiends in the present sent him to the past when he was on the brink of death after his defeat, and Garland then sent the Four Fiends in the past to the present. By doing this, Garland has created a time loop that will allow him to live forever.

Garland absorbs the Fiends' power and transforms into Chaos to do battle with the heroes. He is defeated and the time loop is broken, restoring the land. The epilogue states that a restored Garland will await the Warriors of Light as they travel back to the present, though it is unclear if he has reformed into the honorable knight he once was.

In the novelization, Final Fantasy: Memory of Heroes, Garland plays a similar role to the original story, with his appearance in the finale having him merge with the Four Fiends in the middle of the confusion between them and the Warriors of Light, allowing him to transform into Chaos.

Dissidia

According to the plot of both Dissidia and Dissidia 012, after Garland was defeated and sent into the timeloop, he was freed by Shinryu and summoned to World B. Encountering Cid of the Lufaine, Garland agreed to coerce Chaos into fighting Cosmos due to the connection he felt with Chaos, and stood by the God of Discord throughout the cycles. It is stated that he and Prishe briefly fought over the custody of the newly summoned Warrior of Light during one of the earlier cycles of war. Garland recognized the Warrior and warned Prishe she couldn't understand his true nature, but Prishe was victorious and the Warrior of Light was taken to Order's Sanctuary to join Cosmos. Sometime after, Garland confronted Shantotto and was the last one to see her before she left World B via a doorway to the Rift.

In the official quest, "Gabranth's Quest 000: One Who Faces Hell", during an unspecified earlier cycle, Gabranth becomes disillusioned with the cycle when he realizes the losers are purified of memories. Refusing to fight as there is no point to it, Garland attacks Gabranth when he threatens to kill Chaos if the god forces him to fight. Garland mocks Gabranth and encourages him to use up all his strength so he will not be revived in the next cycle. When attempts to kill himself, he is consumed by the Rift. Garland tells Emperor Mateus that this is the fate of those who defy the will of the gods, to be cast into the Rift until they submit to the cycle and are willing to return to fight again.

In "Shantotto's Quest 000: The Seeker's Destination", Garland encounters Shantotto after she destroys a gateway, seeking to create a temporal distortion with its destruction strong enough to open a portal to the Rift so she can escape the cycle. Garland battles her and claims there is no escape, but Shantotto's guess proves accurate when a portal opens and she enters the Rift. In "Prishe's Quest 000: The Defeat of Cosmos", Garland confronts Cosmos, seeking to discover if even a god will be purified and reborn if slain. Garland kills Cosmos, but true to his suspicions, she is purified and revived in the next cycle.

In Prologus, Garland is the first Warrior of Chaos that Lightning faces. He and the Emperor mock her and the Warrior of Light for waiting for them to make the next move. After the battle, Garland is disappointed that the fight was short and tells Lightning and Warrior they will meet again.

The story continues in the Treachery of the Gods scenario. Garland later confronts Lightning, seeing no point in fighting her, and leaves her for the manikins while telling her most of her allies have already been dealt with by the strange beings. Garland explains the manikins bypass the gods' power to revive the fallen, and thus they can end the existence of a warrior of either side for good.

Garland witnesses the Emperor suggest Jecht should be converted into a Chaos warrior. Garland is taken aback, but Chaos relents and channels his energy into the fallen Jecht.

Garland serves as the final boss of this scenario. After Laguna leads the party to a portal to the Rift from which the manikins have been emerging, the Emperor, the Cloud of Darkness, Ultimecia, Garland and Kefka teleport in to stop the heroes from destroying the portal. Lightning battles Garland alone for the final match, after which the five Chaos warriors teleport away so the manikins can finish the conflict for them.

During the twelfth cycle in "Cloud's Quest 012: You Should Have Disappeared", Garland intervenes when Sephiroth challenges Cloud, telling the two conflict between allies is not tolerated. Cloud follows Garland when he leaves and challenges him, but Garland holds back, refusing to go all-out as there is no point to them killing each other. He warns Cloud his potentially traitorous actions during the twelfth cycle have been noticed by the other warriors of Chaos. In "Sephiroth's Quest 012: The Hero's Memory", the Emperor witnesses Sephiroth commit suicide as he seeks to uncover the truth of the cycle of war. He and Garland reflect on possible reasons why Sephiroth can do this when Gabranth failed.

In the Destiny Odyssey campaigns in Dissidia and Light to All scenario in Dissidia 012, Garland arrives and challenges the Warrior of Light Early into his journey. Garland is defeated, but he tells the Warrior that fighting back is pointless, and fades away. Believing Garland is dead, the Warrior of Light journeys on, but Garland survives. Sephiroth questions Garland about the memories they have lost, and asks about a dragon with an unearthly glow he saw when he awoke, but Garland does not answer.

Garland confronts Ultimecia about her manipulations of Squall, and she reveals she has her own plans separate from the Emperor, and asks Garland to assist her. Later, when Cloud defeats Sephiroth and claims his Crystal, Garland speaks to the Emperor, and the two agree that Sephiroth may become a threat to the Emperor's plan. Later, the two meet again to discuss Terra's shaky alliance to Cosmos due to her lack of light, and Kefka's plans to bring her back into the fold.

Squall arrives to battle Ultimecia and Garland approaches, intending for Squall to fight both of them. Zidane appears and fights Garland so that Squall may face Ultimecia alone. Squall defeats Ultimecia, but Garland only thanks Zidane for the battle, and leaves after Ultimecia falls. The Warrior of Light defeats the Emperor, and Garland appears before him, telling the shocked knight that he cannot be defeated. He invites the Warrior of Light to follow him to discover the war's true nature. Before their final battle, Garland lectures Kuja about fate, telling him they all share the same destiny, including Ultimecia. He speaks to Sephiroth again, who questions Garland's ability to be revived despite numerous defeats.

When the Warrior of Light arrives at the Chaos Shrine, Garland tells the Warrior the reason he came back to life was because of Chaos, and reveals the true nature of the gods' conflict. Garland encourages the Warrior of Light to submit to the cycle of war, but he refuses, and the two battle again. Garland is defeated and the Warrior of Light claims his Crystal, but Garland goads him. Garland claims the Crystals have the power to stop the cycle, and even the gods cannot foresee what would become of the world if the Crystals were brought together.

The Emperor, Garland, and the other warriors of Chaos, had in fact allowed themselves to be defeated to ensure that the warriors of Cosmos receive the Crystals, as per their plan. After Chaos kills Cosmos, Garland oversees his god's slumber. Sephiroth questions Garland about the memories he has regained, asking what Garland's desire is once Chaos is destroyed. Garland rejects the idea, claiming he is a prisoner to the cycle of war and has no right to desire anything else. While with Golbez, Garland reveals the world to be a testing ground for Chaos and how he had arranged it under Cid's instructions. Garland believes he cannot leave the cycle even if he wanted to, but is interested on its disbursal.

When Chaos awakens and describes a peculiar dream in which he governed the world harmoniously with Cosmos, Garland reveals this was World B before the conflict, and that he himself had instigated it in accordance to the Great Will. Garland tells Chaos he is predestined to be sent 2,000 years into the past by God of Discord, becoming Chaos himself — their fates intertwined as Chaos would subconsciously convince Garland to take the path leading to his eventual change.

As the warriors of Cosmos approach Chaos's domain in the Land of Discord, Garland stands as the final villain alive before he is defeated. He reveals Chaos plans to destroy World B with the cycle finally broken. Though the heroes question Garland's acceptance of this, Garland tells them his spirit will endure and he will find another cycle. He fades while vowing he and the heroes will meet again. Though revived by Shinryu, Garland learns too late that Shinryu is now involving itself in the conflict's final battle.

Dissidia NT

Garland is summoned as a warrior of Spiritus to fight in the new war and is the first to arrive at his tower. When Spiritus communicates with Materia, Garland silently watches as Spiritus declares his intentions to rule World B.

Garland confronts the Warrior of Light in the gateway that resembles Cornelia, and challenges him to a fight. Despite being accompanied by two manikins, Garland is ultimately defeated by the Warrior, Cecil, and Noctis. After the battle, the Warrior of Light asks Garland whether Spiritus's true motive is to destroy the world, and Garland explains Spiritus does not desire that. After confirming that Spiritus is willing to overlook a grudge against Materia for the best interests of their respective worlds, Garland accompanies the three to the god's domain to establish communication with Materia.

Upon arrival, Shantotto initiates the discussion between the two gods. Once Materia and Spiritus come to a truce, the champions on both sides engage in a stage battle to lure out Shinryu, the source of the planesgorgers that threaten to eradicate the world. During the ensuing fight, Garland briefly duels with Noctis and Lightning, before taking up arms against the Warrior of Light. Once the battle energy summons Shinryu, Garland participates in a joint attack against the dragon, but is repelled as Shinryu reveals his true form in a potent burst of power. Once the warriors regain their composure, they work together to defeat Shinryu. Afterwards, the moogles give Garland a crystal to host his memories for Spiritus to use in the new cycles of wars. With a crystal doppelgänger of himself to serve on Spiritus's behalf, Garland is sent home.

Dissidia Opera Omnia

When the world of respite was created, Garland was disgusted with the notion of a world without battle and immediately sought to bring conflict to it. The Warrior of Light confronted him, attempting to protect his comrades' rest and memory. Garland struck him down, robbing him of his memory, and ventured into the world of respite in order to disrupt it.

Garland glories in the Torsions that rend the world. He engages in a running battle with Lightning up the Capta Est Tower and attempts to convince her of his philosophy, that there is no place for a world of respite in their lives and that she, like himself, should accept a fate of neverending battle. She rejects his words, but their continued confrontations work in Garland's favor. Eventually, their battles agitate the local Torsion out of control and it spawns Dark Bahamut.

Theatrhythm

Garland is a playable character in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy All-Star Carnival, and is the representative antagonist of Final Fantasy. Added via update on March 1st, 2017, he is unlocked by collecting Dark Crystal Shards. His appearance is based on his Dissidia attire, and wields his version of the Claymore.

His Limit, Soul of Chaos, deals damage to boss-type enemies in direct proportion to Strength, with the ability to summon Odin.

Record Keeper

World of Final Fantasy Maxima

Garland appears as the final boss of the Hidden Dungeon, unlocked after finishing the game once and accessed via the purple gate on the seventh floor of the Crystal Tower. True to his game of origin, Garland is fought alongside rematches with the Four Fiends. This marks his first appearance as a Superboss.

Brave Exvius

Battle

Being the first boss, Garland has only physical attacks and the battle is straightforward. The player's physical attackers, if any, should attack each round, with their healer using their spells only when needed and their offensive mage attacking each round with whatever spells they have.

Trivia

• Garland is the first named character to appear in the series.
• Garland's character profile listed on Theatrhythm Final Fantasy All-Star Carnival's official website states he kidnapped Princess Sarah after she did not reciprocate his love for her. Garland's motive for abducting Sarah to seize control of Cornelia was introduced in later versions of Final Fantasy, as the original and MSX version don't mention this. According to the character volume of the series' 20th Anniversary Ultimania, Garland's hatred is a result of Sarah rejecting his feelings.
• In Dissidia, Garland has the highest base Attack and Defense, with 112 Attack and 113 Defense at level 100. In Dissidia 012 his stats are reduced to 111 Attack and 112 Defense.
• In Dissidia, Garland's first outfit's EX Mode model is plagued by several graphical errors in the original Dissidia due to misaligned textures. These errors are fixed in Dissidia 012.
• Garland's manikin, False Stalwart, appears thirty times in Dissidia, the most of any manikin.
• In Dissidia, Garland is one of three characters to be fought four times as a main storyline boss, the others being Ultimecia and the Emperor.
• Garland is the tallest of the warriors of Chaos, standing just above Golbez and Exdeath.
• In both Dissidia and Dissidia 012, both of Garland's English and first Japanese voice actors also voiced Alex Louis Armstrong from another Square Enix project: Fullmetal Alchemist and its reboot Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
• When comparing his designs in Dissidia and Dissidia NT, Garland is the first character to undergo a redesign compared to the previous Dissidia games. As a result, he is the only character to have their official art updated by Tetsuya Nomura, which now positions him facing to his left, like the rest of the warriors of Chaos.

References

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